is there a new 'tags game' thread...

[wicked]

...or is the old one still alive somewhere?

I

[wallypiper]

We have options. We can ask the datadiggers to try to resurrect it. It can probably be done but might not be high on the list.
We can try to start where we left off. Somebody was working on the "official" map to get it up to date but I don't know the status of that.
We could just start over.

[Bryce]

Here's the map.. hasn't been updated since June 2009<small>

</small>GSB Tag-o-Rama map (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114724787037338636587.00045bd00c2b314285032&z=8)

[wallypiper]

Bummer. I though somebody had worked on it since then. There have been 39 tags since Grant Park. I have all the tag locations starting at Dowdell's Knob (#9) on this map. (http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=33.768720657644444~-80.22138671774997&lvl=6&sty=r&cid=4F93F20F3C450CA9!392) But no pictures.

[ramm]

A fresh start couldn't hurt

[wicked]

a fresh start would be great...i could use all my posts over again ;-)

either way, lets make a decision...the season is upon us and i love playing this game...and wally's map is good...we could continue to use that...

thoughts?

[FZstaR]

I want to play this year!! Make a decision and let's get this sucker going again!

[wallypiper]

After exploring a bit, I see that you CAN attach photos to the pins on the Bing map. But I don't know if people other than me can do it. I am willing to try to keep the map up to date but there will be times when I can't. Later this spring for example, I'll be out of the country for a couple of business trips that will be at least a week long, maybe both combined into a 2-3 week trip. I may not have very good access during that time so it would be hard to keep up. In the past, I've always worked at catching up when I missed some tags but sometimes it took me a while to do it if I was busy.

I'm not sure about sharing access to it that allows others to edit the pins or add new ones. I don't object to it, but I don't know if it can be done. I need somebody else to try it. It looks like you have to be logged into Bling but I don't know if you have to be logged in as me. I think Bryce has set up the original Google map so that everybody could look at it and certain people had access that allowed them to edit it. I don't known why nobody kept that map up to date. I guess they lost interest. There were some periods when tags were being added every day and even more than one a day a couple of times so there was quite a bit of work involved.

Another factor, for me, is that I enjoyed the process of identifying and then locating the tags on the map. But it wasn't fun if I just waited till it was claimed and identified. The fun was the challenge of figuring it out. That made updating the map quite time consuming at times but it was a fun game and it's really why I started my own map.

Somebody try to edit my map. Try to add a pin and attach a photo to it. The photo has to be hosted somewhere else like photobucket or flickr and it has to be publicly available.

GSB has albums that can hold photos. I'm not sure of all the details of how they work.

Here's a photo I just uploaded to my GSB album:
http://www.georgiasportbike.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=239

I can see that it gets resized. The original photo was 1600 x 1200 and it looks like vBulletin shrunk it to only 373 x 280. That's pretty small. I assume that limit can be changed. I'll check with the admins about the size limits.

[jtryz]

so, are we going to start again soon. liked playing

[wallypiper]

Highside has upped the photo size to 800 x 800 which is basically a good size for forum posts for most people. Somebody start a new thread with a link to my map in the rides section and we'll fire it up.

[wicked]

ok...so good map news, bad map news...

good map news: ive set up a collaborative google map where anyone can add tags...ive imported what was on the map that bryce posted above so while the datas a little old, we still have something to work with...you can add pics as well as other cool stuff to the points on the map ive created

bad map news: the data on bing maps doesnt seem to have an rss feed, so im afraid theres no way to easily import the data off of wallys map...and you have to have/sign up for a google account (i use gmail as my personal email anyway) and be logged in to make edits to the map.

CLICK ME (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105612259216709383239.000481e068047efd359c8&ll=34.360443,-84.017944&spn=0.800358,1.229095&z=10) to go to the map.

thoughts?

[wallypiper]

Somebody with lots of mapping software smarts may be able to move stuff over. The Bing map will export location info as KML or GPX data but I know nothing of such things. How is the map you created different from Bryce's map? Bryce could make his map public but then anybody that stumbles across it could add pins. I think he limited it to sort of keep the map under control. Maybe that wasn't necessary. What do you guys think? Should we use a public map so any of us can add stuff to it?

[TroyBoy30]

can highside simply not restore the entire tag thread?

[wicked]

Somebody with lots of mapping software smarts may be able to move stuff over. The Bing map will export location info as KML or GPX data but I know nothing of such things. How is the map you created different from Bryce's map? Bryce could make his map public but then anybody that stumbles across it could add pins. I think he limited it to sort of keep the map under control. Maybe that wasn't necessary. What do you guys think? Should we use a public map so any of us can add stuff to it?ive done a bit of GIS web app development using googles api though not a ton...poked around briefly on bing and was looking for but didnt see the export...i dont use bing maps and therefore am unfamiliar...my bad...we should be able to use those file types for import and if not, im sure i can meld them into something we CAN use...my map is different only in that i didnt have access to bryces maps and therefore couldnt test out the functionality :-) otherwise its identical. and, as im sure you know already, the public maps on google arent truly public...only to the subset of the public who have a google account...and while it would likely be a pain in the ass to maintain, you can set it up so that only specified people can post...seems that there are only about 10 of us who seem to be playing on a regular basis anyway...if all of us were allowed access initially we could then dole out privileges to other and/or post tags for other...just a suggested course of action...just my ¢...i wont run off to a therapist if you guys tell me to get bent :beer:

[Jtree007]

I Just downloaded the original map and it can be read by gpsbabel. So we can pretty get all the locations in to any other format, but as far as online maps, google tends to be the best.

Does anyone know what the last active tag was? If we could somehow trace are way back from the current active tag to the last tag on the map we could update it all and get back on track. I had no clue the map was that out of date. Looks like I was the last one to update it... and that was a long time ago.

I think we should just start somewhere and then go from there, either the current active tag from the old thread or just someone needs to go get one. The weather is improving quickly and loved the last game when I had the time to et a tag. If we try to move on and keep the same rules then we can integrate the old game with the new tags or if we can't get the old list put together just use the new tags as the beginning of a new game.

[wallypiper]

only to the subset of the public who have a google account there are people without a google account?

Wicked, I have the gpx file from bing. pm or post an email address and I'll send it to you and you can see what you can do with it. Or anybody else that wants to take a shot at that.

[Jtree007]

Wally, I am assuming you are talking to me so... My GSB Username@gmail.com

I just got back from a ride and grabbed a tag if anyone wants to use it... The unclaimed Tag should be posted so we can start back up while we get the maps combined.

[wallypiper]

Either one of you. Check your mail.

[Jtree007]

Ok.. The Google Map is Updated ..... I need to clean it up a little bit to make it all look the same, but all the locations are now there. If anyone wants to send me the pictures that they have and where they go I will be happy to post them up.

[TroyBoy30]

i'll ask again. why not just get highside to restore the old thread?

[wallypiper]

We don't really need the thread since we have the map. Great work, Joseph.
But I'll put a post in the admin forum about restoring the old thread. I don't know how much work it is.

[wicked]

oops...miss a few days, miss a lot...as long as this gets rolling doesnt matter how...good going jtree...

you have the url to the new map, is it shared and is it based on bryces map? the one bryce created and i imported already have a lot of the photos on it...

game on.

[wallypiper]

The URL is http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=114724787037338636587.00045bd00c2b314285032&mid=1228688207.

Editing is still limited. All of the photos are there, or at least the ones that are still in their original location. But obviously the ones posted after that map was no longer updated are missing.

[Jtree007]

I had access to edit Bryce's map, so that I where I thought it best to put it all together. I can also add pictures if we can somehow get them... I just need the links or the images e-mailed to me... Even if we can't get the old thread back on here... just having access to the raw data from the thread would be enough to recover most of the images, if not all of them.

[wallypiper]

I am asking. No answer yet. Like most of us, the guys who have access to the old database also have jobs, families etc. I vote that we go ahead and start a new thread. In fact, I'll go ahead and do that. If we manage to recover the old photo links, that'll be good.

[wicked]

:up:

[highside]

can highside simply not restore the entire tag thread?

Its not quite that simple. In addition to the tables having different structures, each post has a unique ID that s sequential throughout the entire db. Also, each post has a parent ID which corresponds to another post to which it is a reply. In short, while not impossible, it would require a lot of manual work and would risk the integrity f the db if not immediately, likely down the road. I'd rather not go there. we all know what happens when GSB crashes. :)

I did just email Wally 2 spreadsheets containing all the posts from the old DB. Wally can cut/paste posts from the spreadsheet onto a new thread.

[wallypiper]

woohoo
OK. We're not gonna do that but I will see if I can search it for the photo links and sort them out so we can add them to the map.

Here ya go: Tagorama 2010 (http://www.georgiasportbike.com/showthread.php?973-Tagorama-2010!)

[flygirl]

today would be a good day to play this game :)

[wicked]

ok...heres some of the ones i found on my confuser...not many, but its a start

http://www.daveblohm.com/georgiasportbike/tagorama/

[wicked]

just looked at the map...the items listed at the link above are tags 113, 114, 115 and 116

[wallypiper]

I sent missing photo links dug out of the old thread data to jtree to add to the map. A few of the links in the old thread are dead but I think there was at least one good link for each tag. The photos are nice but not essential.

[Jtree007]

I will work on updating the map tonight when I have some dead time. So by tomorrow It all should be updated.

[Ga-Bandit]

here are a few with tag #s and peeps. I updated the map Bryce had but google lost it all.

[Ga-Bandit]

2

[Ga-Bandit]

3

[Ga-Bandit]

4

[Ga-Bandit]

5

[Ga-Bandit]

6

[Ga-Bandit]

I'll do more later and upload them. The last one I have is I think 136 which is attached

[wallypiper]

Bandit, thanks but did you look at the map? Most of those photos have already been added to the map. Some may have been missing if they were hosted at GSB and there were some photos in the old thread that have broken links. The one in the post above is tag #135 and it's already on the map. Putting your photos at photobucket or flickr is better than uploading them to GSB.

[Ga-Bandit]

saw it too late -)

[wallypiper]

Oh well. Meanwhile, is there a setting that can be changed in the map so it doesn't load all the photos every time you load the page?